But Mr Williams knew just the thing to perk them up: piping hot bacon baps fresh from the oven.

Winding down his window, he stopped to ask the crew how many of them there were, then drove straight to the nearest Greggs Bakery in Swansea to pick up a bag of bacon rolls.

James Williams took a bag of bacon baps to exhausted firefighters on Kilvey Hill (Image: Robert Melen)

Fire crews tucked into their bacon sarnies just before they clocked off after a night tackling the blaze (Image: Perry Plowman)

The firefighters had to deal with difficult terrain (Image: Robert Melen)

"I just passed them this morning and they all looked a bit tired. They were just hanging on at that point I think, because they had been up all night," said the 33-year-old, who was on his way to work at 8:30am.

"I went to Greggs and bought 10 bacon rolls, then shot back up there to deliver them and then went back to work.

"I knew they were changing shifts at 9am, so I had to get up there quickly," he added.

He didn't tell staff at Greggs where his order was heading, but simply paid for it out of his own pocket and drove back to Kilvey Hill.

Mr Williams, who owns his own company, JMW Heating and Plumbing Ltd, lives in St Thomas, just two streets away from the six homes which were evacuated as the fire spread towards them.

Firefighters take a break the morning after the Kilvey Hill blaze (Image: Robert Melen)

The plumber lives in St Thomas and could see the fire from his own front door (Image: Robert Melen)

You could still see the smoke on Kilvey Hill on Friday morning (Image: Dimitris Legakis/Athena Pictures)

Posting on Facebook, he said: "We helped feed the firefighters this morning who have worked tirelessly throughout to tackle a huge blaze on Kilvey Hill. Some families were forced to evacuate whilst others faced the nervousness of waiting to be evacuated.

"Huge thank you to everyone that has helped tackle the blaze."

His thoughtful gesture touched everyone, and not just the hungry firefighters.

Geraint Price, a firefighter with Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, praised Mr Williams for his "huge heart" and described it as "real community in action".

The grateful crews told Mr Williams they had got the fire largely under control and were glad to see the rain when it arrived on Friday morning.

"They were quite happy to see the rain, but they were even happier when the bacon butties arrived," said Mr Williams.